This week, Sports Business Journal shared details on how USA Volleyball is approaching a key opportunity in the women’s game. Along with Canada, the governing body is reportedly submitting a bid to FIVB to host the 2027 women’s world indoor volleyball championship. If chosen, it would be the first time the tournament has taken place stateside.

This weekend, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson made WNBA history by winning the league’s MVP award for a record fourth time, shortly after earning her third WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) and warranting the first-ever share of the award.

On Monday, Unrivaled shared that after last December’s successful Series A investment round, the league’s recent Series B round brought its valuation to $340M, or almost 10x its initial May 2024 valuation. With investors and sponsors circling the next big thing in women’s basketball, let’s dive into why the league works and what makes it truly unrivaled.

This week, nailcare brand Orly celebrated its 50th anniversary by launching its first-ever sports partnership with the LA Sparks. As nailcare brands begin tapping on women’s sports, we enjoyed an in-depth conversation with Orly about how consumer trends and its LA roots led to this partnership.

This week, Front Office Sports (FOS) shared updates on the ongoing saga surrounding the sale of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. In early August, weeks after Steve Pagliuca pledged a record $325M to bring the Sun to Boston, FOS reported the Mohegan Tribe approved the deal, but the W never did.

Last year, Relo Metrics spoke with The GIST about its first year of tracking sponsor media value (SMV) in the WNBA. On Wednesday, we checked in with company CEO Jay Prasad on how the 2025 season so far compares with an explosive 2024 season that generated $136M in SMV for league sponsors.

Season two of Overtime Select — the high school girls’ basketball tournament launched by Gen Z sports brand Overtime (OT) last year — tips off on Saturday, so we spoke with OT about its growth numbers and the ROI for brands that want to capitalize on the next generation of women’s basketball stars.

The Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark has shattered records once again — or at least her likeness has. Last Thursday, a signed one-of-one Panini trading card depicting Clark sold for $660K, beating the previous $366K record set by another of Clark’s Panini cards in March. Let’s explore how Clark has recalibrated the memorabilia market with her unparalleled WNBA stardom.

Yesterday, sponsorship insights platform SponsorUnited released its inaugural WNBA Partnerships Report, covering 12 WNBA teams over 2024 season and the 2025 season so far. The report — which Lynch says has been three years in the making — notes a 17% surge in deals during the 2025 WNBA season alone.

Earlier this month, Sports Business Journal shared data from sponsorship analytics platform Blinkfire on social media engagement among professional North American sports teams. Eight of the top 10 are WNBA teams, led by the Dallas Wings, Indiana Fever, and Golden State Valkyries.

The WNBA’s All-Star Weekend (ASW) drove a variety of online conversation, from ongoing CBA negotiations to the proliferation of StudBudz, the player-powered shared social media profile that offered an entertaining inside look into ASW.

Yesterday, Portland’s WNBA expansion team finally launched its long-awaited brand reveal, showcasing its name and logo as the Portland Fire. While there are some local criticisms about the name, Portland made this decision with significant intentionality, which may have influenced the overall positive response to the name.